The Shadow of Kyuubi
by Mr. Patience
Summary: He had to bring back Sasuke so everything would go back to the way it used to be. However, in order to do that he had to have more power. But at what cost? Naruot xover Shadow of the Colossus
1. Chapter 1

Okay, this is my first try at writing a Naruto fanfiction. This may sound like a strange cross-over, but I put a lot of thought into it (kind of) and hope for it to become epic in length. Hope. Anyway, please leave a review with constructive criticism so that I may improve my skill.

It takes place right after chapter 350

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with the author or owner of Naruto or Shadow of the Colossus. This is a work of fandom and I am in no way profiting from it.

"_Italic"_- thoughts

"Quotations" – normal speech

_The Shadow of Kyuubi_

Chapter 1

It was a warm September day asNaruto slowly walked through Konoha in a contemplative mood.

"_Sasuke killed Orochimaru, so he's obviously gotten all the power he needs, right? But why wouldn't he come back to Konoha?"_

He sped up his pace, becoming more frustrated with each passing step.

"_The idiot is probably going to go find Itachi next and continue to ignore us."_

His speed increased even more.

"_He left us all for power! He abandoned everyone just so he could kill his stupid brother!_ _Once I find him I'm gonna_- Oof!" exclaimed Naruto as he walked right into a solid surface and fell to the cold ground.

He lifted his sore head to see what had stopped his mental ranting. It was a tall, jet black slab of stone, the memorial of the Yondaime Hokage. Looking around, he realized that he had unconsciously walked to the Konoha graveyard.

He stood up and slowly ran his fingers over the cool, smooth surface of the stone. Engraved on it was a description of the Yondaime and the deeds he had done for the village. His heart sank as he scanned the part telling of the Yondaime's heroic sacrifice made in order to defeat the Kyuubi.

"Looks like I was the one that got the short end of the stick, eh, Yondaime?" sighed Naruto.

He had a small, sad smile on his face as he remembered all the times he had come to it before he knew about the Kyuubi being sealed within him. He would always say how much he wanted to be just like the Yondaime so that the village would respect him.

However, his brow furrowed as he saw something just below the Kyuubi passage. It was a small spiral seal, exactly like the one on his stomach! But what would that same seal be doing on the Yondaime's memorial? Naruto scrutinized it as he carefully rubbed his fingers over it.

A dull tingling sensation was felt in his fingertips. Then, before he could react, he was grabbed by a strong pulling force. It was as if the memorial was trying to suck him in! He desperately planted his feet, but it was no use! There was a cloud of smoke that engulfed him and when it cleared, all that was left was thin air.

When Naruto awoke, he was no longer in the solemn graveyard, but instead he was in a small room. It was barren and aged, the dirty white paint flaking off the walls. Afternoon sunlight poured through a solitary window which Naruto went to.

"_Well, I'm still in the village, but nowhere near the graveyard. I must have somehow activated that seal, yet I thought you had to put chakra into a seal to activate it? It must have been some kind of teleportation seal or something."_

Looking around the room, he realized that it wasn't completely empty. There was a small, wooden chest sitting in one of the lonely corners. His curiosity getting the best of him, he walked over to investigate it. He checked the outside of it to make sure there weren't any traps before moving it to the center of the room.

After sitting down in front of it, he took a deep breath and undid the brass latch that kept it closed.

The inside of the chest was lined with purple silk and had a pillow with the matching fabric sitting in the bottom. Resting upon this pillow was a regular-sized scroll with a blank, white outside. It was kept raveled by a red wax seal which looked exactly like the one on the memorial.

"_This is getting too weird for me. Why is that seal on both the memorial and the scroll? Well, only one way to find out." _

The blonde cautiously broke the seal and instantly felt the same pulling sensation that he had experienced at the memorial. A cloud of smoke engulfed him once more and he vanished from the desolate room.

Naruto opened his eyes and was not surprised to find that he was lying in the graveyard.

"_My day just keeps on getting better." _

He slowly picked his stiff body off the ground, meanwhile examining the outside of the scroll.

"_Maybe I should tell Ero-sennin about it; he knows a lot about seals. I think I'll tell him after I see what's inside of it first."_

Making his decision, Naruto quickly ran to his apartment.

The rustling of paper could be heard in his apartment while he unraveled the scroll. Inside of it were rows upon rows of kanji used for seal making, all written in black ink. About half way through the scroll, he came upon the familiar spiral seal that had plagued his day.

"_Might as well try it, I didn't go through all of that for nothing." _

Naruto placed his hand on the seal and pushed chakra into. It began to glow and…

_Poof! _

He waved his arms furiously to clear the smoke and was happy to find that he was still in his apartment. But what was new was that there was now a sword lying on top of the scroll's seal.

The young shinobi's eyes were full of awe and interest as he picked up the marvelous, yet plain weapon. It was a straight short sword, only about two and a half feet in total length. The hilt was dull steel wrapped in black leather. The sheath was also wrapped in black leather. After admiring the outside, he drew the blade. The flat of the blade was wide and a dull black. The blade's edge was a bright steel and razor sharp.

"_I wonder if this is like Asuma's knives?"_

He pushed a small amount of chakra into the sword, nothing happened. He pushed more and it began to glow a faint blue. He pushed even more and grew brighter. Finally, he pushed as much chakra as he could into it. A grinned spread across his face as it shone a brilliant blue, but his joy was cut short as he was hit by a massive headache. He dropped the sword to the ground as head clutched his throbbing head. His pain soon ended as he passed out.

"Ow, seals just don't like me," complained Naruto as he opened eyes and stood up, "Huh, how did I get here?"

The leaky sewer that was his mindscape greeted the confused teenager. What was odd was that he only appeared here when he focused and sent himself here or when he lost control of himself. Remembering this brought back painful memories of an injured teammate.

Whipping his head around, the furious ninja spotted the gate that the Kyuubi was imprisoned behind.

"You!" shouted Naruto as he pointed an accusing finger, "You bastard! You took control of my body! And you hurt Sakura-chan!"

There was no reply.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me you no good, son of a-"

"Do you even know why you're here, human?" deadpanned a deep voice from behind the gate.

"Um…"

"It is no mere coincidence that you were sent here after pushing your chakra into that sword."

"What? How do know about the sword?"

"I know because that sword is the key to unlocking my full power."

"How's that? You're in me and it's out there! How in the world could it unlock your power?"

"All of my power is not seal within you."

"What?!"

"When you were a newborn, your body was not strong enough to contain all of my power. Your body could only handle four 'tails' worth of my chakra."

"But my body was damaged when I used four 'tails' to fight Orochimaru! Wouldn't that mean that my body was too weak to handle four 'tails'?"

"Listen, four 'tails' is the highest amount of my power that your body has ever been exposed to. When you tried to expend it all at once it overloaded your body."

"That doesn't explain how you took control of me!"

"That amount of chakra was too much for your body **and** mind to handle. I had to take over in order to keep you from having a complete mental breakdown."

There was a tense silence. Naruto was remembering the burn Sakura had received because that.

"So," asked Naruto, "Why do I need more of your power if my body can't even handle the power it already has."

"The more of it your body has, the more it will be able to expend at one time. So, if you have seven 'tails' total, then you can expend six 'tails' without over loading."

"What happens if I get all nine 'tails'?"

"I don't know."

"How is the sword the 'key'?"

"The rest of my power was somehow sealed within multiple entities. I do not know where they may be, though. That is where the sword comes into importance: it is the means by which to find the entities."

"How do I know you're not lying about all of this?"

A pause.

"I cannot answer that question, only you can."

A heavy sigh came from Naruto.

"If you are able to get all of my power, it will be enough to bring Sasuke back."

The room became tense.

"So, how do I get this sword to work?"

Chapter End

I know it's short, but they should be longer in the future. There will also be action, probably a lot, in the future. Please leave constructive criticism for I am an aspiring writer and wish to improve my skill. Expect an update within a week (hopefully).


	2. Chapter 2

No, I'm not dead. And I know it took a whole month for me to get this chapter out, but hey, I do have a life (kinda). Okay, I know some of you are wondering if there will be some type of pairing and you're going to find out. There is no pairing planned at this time. But I can tell you right now it won't, and never will be yaoi.

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with the author or owner of Naruto or Shadow of the Colossus. This is a work of fandom and I am in no way profiting from it.

"_Italic"_- thoughts

"Quotations" – normal speech

"_**Bold Italics"**_- jutsu

The Shadow of Kyuubi

Chapter 2

"_Looks like no one's around,"_ thought Naruto as he took off his backpack.

He was standing in an empty forest clearing outside Konoha as he pulled the sword from his backpack. Unsheathing it, he examined the keen blade.

"_This is still so weird. Something doesn't feel right about all of this but… I have to bring Sasuke back, for Sakura-chan. For myself." _

With his determination renewed, he stood and firmly gripped the hilt. He slowly pushed chakra into the blade like he and Kyuubi ha discussed. To his satisfaction, it began to glow blue. It then gave a slight tug, as if someone was lightly pulling on it. Nodding his head, Naruto pushed more chakra into it. The pull became stronger and seemed to be going southwest.

The blonde shinobi slung his backpack over his shoulder, strapped the sheath to his belt, and , with one last deep breath, headed southwest.

The cool morning air filled his lungs as he raced through the trees whose leaves were beginning to turn yellow. Naruto had always loved Fire Country in the autumn, but it wasn't until then that he realized how truly beautiful it was. But then again, losing something makes you truly appreciate it, or at least that's what they say.

And it wasn't just the scenery that he had missed during his training trip. His friends he missed the most, especially Sakura. She had grown like the rest of his friends in skill and maturity.

This made him think of his current situation.

"_How am I going to explain this Sakura-chan and everyone else? Well, maybe they'll never find out. Yeah, I'll just make sure they don't find out. I don't think they'll be too happy to find out I've been talking to the fox."_

He shook his head in attempt to clear. He didn't need to worry about that now. All he needed to worry about was getting the rest of Kyuubi's power so that he could bring Sasuke.

"This is strange," commented Naruto with a cocked eye brow.

He had been traveling for about an hour when he came upon something odd. It looked like a very small village with the buildings being made of stone. But it was mostly ruins now, a skeleton of its former self. What was strange was that the architecture of the buildings was like nothing like that of the rest of the country, even the extremely old structures.

"Wow, looks like no one's been here for ages! I wonder how many people know about this place?"

He walked slowly through the ruins, admiring its mysterious beauty. The thick stone walls and pillars were covered in moss and cast dark, intertwining shadows. The whole place had an aura of secrecy and possibly foreboding?

Naruto was sure it would have been a sight to see during its heyday, but now it was nothing, many of the sculptures broken and worn.

One that was still intact was one of a lion-like beast sitting on its haunches in a regal position. It was about as tall as Naruto and was the same color as the rest of the ruins. Instead of looking smooth like a lion's fur coat, the surface looked like thick armor. All of which was ornate, although a little worn.

But there was one particular thing that stood out about it: its eyes. They were completely black, they didn't even reflect light. It was almost as if they absorbed it.

He eased his face closer to the mysterious orbs. There was something just so amazing about them. Soon, Naruto's face was just few inches from them and he put his hand of the statues snout to stable himself.

And he saw it. It was just flicker, a candle in the darkness. But then it turned into a blaze and then an inferno. A flame of life.

He jumped back quickly at the sight of the illuminated eyes. That initial surprised turned into fear, if not awe, as the statue began to move!

"This can't be happening! It's just a statue!" he shouted in alarm.

The statue-turned-beast stood up and shook itself like a water-covered cat. It slowly turned its gaze to the shinobi, who was rooted to the spot.

"_Maybe it's friendly…or at least won't try to kill me." _

The beast lowered its shoulders and bent its back knees in a charging position.

"Or not."

Its shoulders surged forward as lunged at him. Thanks to his well honed skills, he escaped its attack, but barely.

He landed on its back and held onto the ridged armor. It began to buck furiously and he tried concentrated chakra in his hands in order to stay. But somehow it didn't help him at all and he was flung to the ground.

Naruto quickly pulled himself off the ground and formed his signature seal.

"_So, you want a fight?"_

The beast eyed him dangerously as it slowly walked toward him, like a predator stalking its prey.

"_**Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" **_

_Poof!_

Four shadow clones appeared next to Naruto. One stayed with him while the others ran in different directions to confuse the creature.

Just as he had hoped, the creature quickly swiveled its head in multiple directions in order to watch all the clones.

The three clones then charged the beast while letting out a war cry. It bucked its body and lashed out with its claws in an attempt to take them out, but they were able to dodge the somewhat slow attacks.

_Poof! _

A clone disappeared as a stone paw slammed into its chest. Another poof sounded soon after that. The creature was about to take out the last one, but was interrupted by a _very_ loud yell coming from the sky. It looked up just in time to see the real Naruto and another clone were coming down upon it.

"Rasengan!"

The rasengan slammed into the beast and there was a huge explosion that sent him flying back. Landing nimbly on his feet, he smiled in triumph. However, when the dust cleared, the beast stood completely unharmed!

A slacked jaw and furrowed brow adorned the teen's face. One of his most powerful attacks had done absolutely nothing! Thoughts of confusion and panic flooded his mind, enough so that he almost didn't notice his opponent about to head-butt him.

He tried to dodge the creature, but one of the menacing stone spikes on its face caught his left leg and hurled him into the air. His mind was drowned in pain as he felt his flesh torn by the spike. It was increased tenfold as he heard a cracking noise as he landed on it.

He had no time to think about it as he barely rolled out of the way of the charging beast. The wounded shinobi looked around desperately. He no longer cared about killing the beast, surviving was on top of his priority list. That's when he spotted a stair case leading to a stone balcony. A small, raised area like that would be the best place for him to make his stand.

He tried to stand, but pain shot through his left leg and it gave out.

"_Why isn't Kyuubi's chakra healing me?!"_

His hope dwindling, Naruto crawled quickly towards the stairs, having to dodge the hulking creature once again.

The crippled teen was almost to the top of the staircase when he heard it. The sound of stone hitting stone. He turned his head and gazed upon his predator readying itself at the bottom of the staircase.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto was truly terrified. His body was broken. He had nowhere to go. He was doomed.

The creature lowered its shoulders and launched into a sprint.

His instincts kicking in, he rolled to the side and off the staircase. However, he latched on to the edge of it to save himself from the ten foot drop.

The beast's momentum sent it onto the balcony and right into one of the small columns supporting the stone roof above it. The roof quickly gave out, smothering the beast in heavy stone. Due to the sudden weight, the balcony also collapsed.

A sigh of relief escaped Naruto's weary body as he hung onto the edge of the stairs. He closed his eyes and let a small smile grace his face.

"_It's finally over."_

His eyes snapped open at the sound of shifting rocks.

"_No, it can't be."_

But it was. From beneath the avalanche of earth came the creature. Much of its stone armor had become detached, especially on its back, and revealed a sod-like fur. It shook its body, as if covered in water, and instantly looked up at Naruto with those cold, hollow eyes.

Terror gripped his heart once more, but he clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out.

The beast prepared to ram the wall holding up the staircase.

His heartbeat pounded in his head. His arms were on fire from having to hold on to the ledge.

The beast ran toward the wall.

"_Sasuke."_

The wall shuddered from the impact and the weakened shinobi lost his grip. But the beast did not hear the sound of a body slamming into the solid ground. It only felt the feet of a furious and healed ninja landing on its vulnerable back and taking grip of its fur. A ninja with slit-like pupils and crimson eyes.

It bucked and ran in a craze, but the shinobi held. He unsheathed the sword and forced chakra into it. A large, spiral seal began to glow on its back. He thrust the sword in to it with all his might. A jet of black blood erupted from the new wound. And the three after that.

Soon the creature stumbled, its energy gone, and collapsed. Naruto was launched from its back and with his eyes once again blue, landed in a heap. Blackness was closing in around him, but not before he saw his opponent begin to dissolve into multiple ribbon-like strands of chakra that flew towards him. They forced themselves into his navel; he let out a cry of pain and passed out.

Chapter End

I wanted to give you a taste of action and leave me a review if you think it could be improved. I'm not going to make any promises for the next chapter, only that it won't have little to no action and will focus on character development. Last of all, thanks to all my reviewers and readers. And no, I will not tell you to R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N at the end of the chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I am in no way affiliated with the author or owner of Naruto or Shadow of the Colossus. This is a work of fandom and I am in no way profiting from it.

"_Italic"_- thoughts

"Quotations" – normal speech

"_**Bold Italics"**_- jutsu

The Shadow Kyuubi 

Chapter 3

"Damn fox," grunted Naruto through gritted teeth, "Never said anything about this when we talked."

He was thinking of the conversation that took place in his mindscape after the battle with the strange creature.

----------

"So, the thing's dead, right?" Naruto asked, looking at Kyuubi through the brass bars.

"No," replied Kyuubi calmly.

"What?! Are you saying that I didn't kill it?!"

"The reason it's not dead is because it was never living to begin with."

"Umm…?"

"The creature you fought was a manifestation of chakra, my chakra. It was the first entity."

"Chakra? But it didn't look anything like chakra! It wasn't even red!"

"It must have somehow absorbed things around it in order to take on a physical shape. I honestly don't know exactly how it took the shape it did. However, the point is that you defeated it."

"Yeah, you're right! That means there are only four left!"

"Yes, your body is going to go through an absorption process soon with the newly gain chakra. It will make you quite tired so you won't be able to go searching for the next entity yet."

"What about training?"

"Training will exert your body, therefore extending the absorption process and weakening your body for even longer. Right now, all you need is rest."

----------

And now Naruto was curled up in a ball on his bed, clutching his aching abdomen.

"_Maybe if I move around some it'll go away or at least let up. Right now, I'm willing to try anything."_

Having made up his mind, he slipped on his shoes and jacket before making his way outside, albeit somewhat slowly.

The sky over Konoha was grey and most people on the street were headed home to avoid the inevitable rain that would soon come. But Naruto was in no hurry, although he had the strange feeling that he didn't have enough time…

Clearing his head with a shake of it, he headed to the outskirts of town to escape the claustrophobic village.

His legs ended up carrying him to an empty field as if following some invisible path.

He walked the empty field slowly, a few raindrops falling on him. The place looked very familiar and seeing three beaten logs lined up in the middle of it filled the gap in his memory.

It was team seven's training spot.

Thunder boomed in the distance followed by a flash of lightning.

He stood motionless for a moment, staring at the three punching logs nostalgically as the rain came down.

He had many humiliatimg moments here, such being tied to one of the logs. But there were many that were priceless. It was here that he made his first two real friends. True, they may not have been the best of friends, but for Naruto who had grown up all alone, they were heaven sent. He knew that they would always be there for him, no matter what, because he would do the same for him.

If only that dream had come true.

Aloud crack resounded through the field followed by a flash of lightning. Naruto's fist was planted half an inch into the thick wood. The bloodied fist was slowly removed, the owner staring contemplatively at it as the crimson liquid mingled with the cool rain. Crimson, like those eyes.

The eyes of his teammate, betrayer, friend, and failure.

Failure.

He had told his friends that he would bring him back. But like usual, he screwed up. He had failed to keep his promise; he had gone back on his word. He had failed.

But then, redemption had seemed within his grasp when he was with Yamato and Sakura and found Sasuke. But even then, he could not escape failure's shadow.

Twice he had almost had him. Twice he had slipped through his fingers.

The rain came down faster.

But no more. He'd bring him back; he'd show everyone that Uzumaki Naruto was not a failure. No longer would he be living in the shadow of failure and hate… of Kyuubi.

He hung his head as his tears were lost in the rain.

"_I have to do this on my own. I have to…"_

_----------_

_In a darkened cave in an unknown location._

"Itachi. Kisame."

"Yes, Pain-sama?"

"It is time to resume the hunt for the Kyuubi."

Chapter End

A/N: Yes, yes, I know that was a very short chapter, but it was short for a reason. And I know it took longer than usual for me to get a chapter out (and a short one at that), but I've already started on the fourth one and have really developed the plot for this story as a whole. So cut me some slack. Or not, I don't really care.

Anyway, I'd like to thank all my readers (over 500 views!) and reviewers, especially the ever loyal **Sharkteeth** and **Kammari**. Also thanks to **Vilkath** for the interesting review.


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